Contents

Background

Goldilocks is the well-known fairy tale character from "Goldilocks and the Three Bears" (as first recorded by Robert Southey[1]), who went into the house of the Three Bears, ate their porridge, sat in their chairs, and slept in their beds. In The Land of Stories series, she is a wanted fugitive (the Three Bears pressed charges against her for breaking & entering[2]).

Appearance and Personality

"She was young and beautiful. Her eyes were big and blue, and her hair was half up and flowed in long, golden curls. She wore a long, maroon knit coat with black leggings and very tall boots."[3]

She has long golden hair, in curls/ waves, blue eyes, and she usually looks very dirty, due to being an outlaw, although her name was cleared in all the kingdoms.

In The Wishing Spell, Goldilocks is described as a very good swordswoman[4]. She is on the run for the law, accompanied by her horse Porridge, a cream female horse. To communicate with her lover, Jack, she trains white doves.[5]

In The Enchantress Returns, Jack and Goldilocks tell stories about the times they rescued each other; Goldilocks once saved Jack from soldiers after he had stolen a bread from a bakery, and Jack saved her from Ogres in return.[6]

She has been afraid of bears ever since the incident with the Three Bears.[7]

When she and Jack are pardoned for their crimes in The Enchantress Returns, rather than rejoice, they look very unhappy about it. When no one is looking, they steal Queen Red's necklace so they can be "on the run" together again.[8]

Goldilocks And The Three Bears in 'A Treasury of Classic Fairytales'

When she marries Jack, she does so in typical "Goldie" fashion: her dress is stolen from Queen Red, her bouquet is her sword with flowers wrapped around it, and her horse is her maid of honor.[9]

In Beyond the Kingdoms, Goldie is several months pregnant and her hormones are wreaking havoc on her emotions, but she doesn't let the pregnancy stop her from helping Alex and Conner.

Relationships

Goldilocks is in love with Jack. In The Wishing Spell, they meet in secret because Goldilocks is outlawed. She sends him white doves to let him know she is waiting for him. Jack offers to join her in exile. At first she refuses, but at the end of The Wishing Spell, agrees to let Jack join her.[10] Jack proposes to Goldilocks while they are in a skirmish with soldiers from the Corner Kingdom and they are married in the Dwarf Forests, with Porridge as maid of honor and Froggy as best man.[11] At the end of A Grimm Warning, Goldilocks reveals that she is pregnant.[12]

Goldilocks has a cream-colored horse named Porridge, which she is very protective of and that is the fastest horse in all the kingdom. The two are partners in crime and usually fight their battles together.

She and Red Riding Hood used to be enemies due to a happening in the past. Young Red – in love with with Jack as well – tricked Goldie into thinking she was going on a date with the boy by faking a handwritten letter. When Goldilocks got to their meeting location, Jack never showed up. Ending up falling asleep, she woke to three bears, who almost killed her. She managed to escape but the bears pressed charges against her and she has been running from the law ever since. Hence Red Riding Hood is the reason Goldilocks became a fugitive in the first place. She only finds out about it from the Evil Queen years later. [13] Red eventually apologizes, which Goldilocks grudgingly accepts, though not before slapping her in the face.[14] In The Enchantress Returns, they work together to help the twins, but still clearly bear each other ill will. In A Grimm Warning, they reconcile: Red attends her wedding and explains to Alex how her new 'nemesis' is Little Bo Peep[15]. Red is not very pleased Goldie stole one of her dresses to get married in, however. Later, Red asks Goldie to give her and the other queens fighting lessons, which Goldilocks admits to enjoying a lot, because she doesn't get to spend much time around other women.[16]

Story

1. The Wishing Spell

Goldilocks is manipulated by the Evil Queen to take revenge on Red Riding Hood. Before she can kill her, Red is captured by the Huntress instead. Goldilocks then aids Alex and Conner in the battle against the Evil Queen.

2. The Enchantress Returns

Goldilocks and Jack come to Queen Red's palace to offer their help against the Enchantress. She helps find the Traveling Tradesman, climbs the Beanstalk with Jack, Froggy and the twins, and fights against the Snow Queen and her polar bears. She also volunteers to stand in for Red as a hostage for the Sea Witch. At the end of the book, she and Jack are pardoned for all their past crimes but prefer a life on the run and start committing new crimes immediately such as stealing Red's necklace.

3. A Grimm Warning

Jack and Goldilocks are wed in the forest and invite Alex to the ceremony. When the royals need protection from the Grand Armée, Alex asks them to be their guards. Goldilocks tells Jack she is pregnant shortly before they are about to be executed. After they escape and the battle is won, Jack briefly assumes this means they will settle down, but Goldilocks disagrees. Alex sends them on a mission to find the escaped criminals from Pinocchio Prison.

4. Beyond the Kingdoms

Goldilocks is part of the search party for the Masked Man, but he escapes before their eyes. After Alex is "ungodmothered", she joins Conner and the others to look for clues at the place the Masked Man disappeared. Red asks her to be her matron of honor (which she accepts, crying emotionally- because she can't think of a way to refuse). She helps "tame" Red on her wedding day. When they find out that the Masked Man has travelled inside a book, she joins Alex, Conner, Jack, Red, Mother Goose and Lester into the Land of Oz. When the others go on to Neverland, she and Jack stay behind in Oz to guard the portal book. She returns to the Land of Stories with her friends at the end of the book only to find out the army of literary villains has begun destroying the kingdoms.

5. An Author's Odyssey

Goldilocks and Jack rescue the royal families from being executed by The Masked Man. They take them back to a cave that leads to mines which is where many people have been staying to avoid being attacked by the literary armies. The travelling tradesman predicts that Alex and Conner will go far away but return with help. Goldilocks sides with the tradesman when everyone else is against him and says that the twins have never let them down before. When Alex and Conner return to the Land of Stories to let everyone know they are aright they ask a few people to come back with them and "babysit" Conner's characters. Goldilocks volunteers. Goldilocks discovers Auburn Sally is based off of her. After having to put on a show for the patients of Saint Andrews hospital - as a result of people seeing conner's characters and Charlotte having to pretend they were performers - Goldilocks goes into labour.

Quotes

"Courage is the one thing that no one can ever take away from you."[17]

"A flame may love a snowflake, but they can never be together without harming the other."[18]

"You're not like any other woman I have ever met," Alex told her. "Why is that?" Goldilocks asked. "You're just so confident and self-sufficient," Alex said. "So many girls- especially in my world- are so insecure and jealous. We rely so much on one another, but we're so mean to each other at the same time. We could use more women like you to look up to."[19]

"Jealousy is just a reminder of the frustrations you have with yourself."[20]

"I am a woman of many secrets and you're just scratching the surface."[21]

"Yesterday, Jack told me I looked beautiful and I punched him in the face."[22]

"I agree with the old man," Goldilocks announced. "It doesn't matter what the marbles say or don't say-the Bailey twins have never let us down before. Just because we haven't heard from them yet doesn't mean we should give up on them. We have to have faith they'll return with help."